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Legal Information: Federal

Immigration

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Laws current as of September 18, 2019

What must I prove to be eligible for T visa status?

To get a T visa, all of the following must be true:

  1. You are a victim of one of the two “severe forms of human trafficking” – either sex trafficking or labor trafficking.
  2. You tried to be helpful to law enforcement officials investigating or prosecuting human trafficking crimes, such as the FBI, state or local police, district attorneys, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations. However, trafficking victims who were under 18 at the time of at least one act of trafficking or too traumatized to cooperate with law enforcement may be excused from showing they helped in an investigation.
  3. You are currently present in the United States, a U.S. territory, American Samoa, or at a port of entry to the United States, a U.S. territory, or American Samoa because of human trafficking that either occurred here or on route here.
  4. You would suffer “extreme hardship involving unusual and severe harm” if you were removed (deported) or forced to leave.1

Note: These above requirements are defined and explained in more detail in the next section, Proving your case: T visa requirements.

1 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(T)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 214.202